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The casino in your pocket

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Re: The casino in your pocket

#81

Post by fer »

fbdab103 wrote: post #59
kioleanu wrote: post #41

Many years ago I worked for a company that offers a very popular in-browser game. The company branched and expanded and had more than 10 games with various levels of profitability, but this game, which was bringing in about 30 millions EURO per month, was the only thing keeping the company alive. Then they decided they want to try to sell the company to a fund and wanted to increase the revenue this golden goose was…

>...which was bringing in about 30 millions EURO per month, was the only thing keeping the company alive. I am curious what were the expenses. Few things are as simple as they appear, but from the mobile games I have seen, they look like they could be put together by tiny development teams: simplistic (+recyclable) art and rules. Once the foundational app is created, feels like the further development could happen on…

I know for a fact that there's at least one company (that I can't name) that offers what I would call "Addiction as a Service".

Their system allows to create n-dimensional currency systems (coins, diamonds, etc), currency conversion rules, collectible management, in-game stores with their schedules, crafting/merging logic, probability distributions (including "dark distributions" like OP's link) and even prices (for profitability hints/warnings). Basically everything a fleecing game needs. They even offer templates inspired in famous games to get you started and tune as you go.

They charge quite a bit, but the "foundational app" upfront cost is much lower: it's limited to UI and a relatively thin business logic that targets their API endpoint (mostly mapping API ids to in-game assets and use or server-side logic).

Re: The casino in your pocket

#82

Post by [deleted] »

xcdzvyn wrote: post #76
hristov wrote: post #37

This is pretty screwed up, because it kind of trains your brain to be a gambling brain. To crave the instant gratification, the high of risk taking etc. I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. This will at least prevent children from having their brains rewired. Of course this w…

> I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. IMHO this shouldn't [have to] be any of Apple or Google's business. It's a parent's responsibility to parent their child, not some conglomerate's.

[deleted]

Re: The casino in your pocket

#83

Post by RhodesianHunter »

xcdzvyn wrote: post #76
hristov wrote: post #37

This is pretty screwed up, because it kind of trains your brain to be a gambling brain. To crave the instant gratification, the high of risk taking etc. I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. This will at least prevent children from having their brains rewired. Of course this w…

> I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. IMHO this shouldn't [have to] be any of Apple or Google's business. It's a parent's responsibility to parent their child, not some conglomerate's.

>It's a parent's responsibility to parent their child

Most won't. Call it lack of time or attention, ignorance of the problem, apathy... ultimately parents can't be aware of everything. We have shit like micro plastics in the water to contend with.

What's the effect on society?

Re: The casino in your pocket

#84

Post by skipkey »

spondylosaurus wrote: post #73
skipkey wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegas is well-regulated, but when you move outside that realm, things get a bit more loosely-defined. I spent a couple of years in the mid-2000s working in the edges here, so I have a bit of knowledge. Note: I've been out of this industry for at least 15 years, so some of my knowledge might have aged, but I'm fairly certain that it's still true in the general sense. First, under federal regulations, there are three c…

> If you go to an Indian casino, and you want to play a slot machine, but it's requiring you to wait on another player, you're dealing with a class II machine. This is all really interesting, but I don't think I follow on this point (and I'd like to understand!)—are you saying that two players are playing on different machines, but the second machine can't operate until the first is done? Are they relying on each oth…

Exactly. There is a server which is drawing bingo balls, against a card. Someone is going to eventually win. So if there is only one player, you will eventually win.

You can actually set up a situation where one player is guaranteed a win, which is why the systems will require at least two players.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#85

Post by vintermann »

> In a casino, any rational adult expects this.

Whoa, no way we don't. I do expect that while the game has a house edge in a casino, if something seems random (roll of dice, draw of cards) then it's random in the way it seems, e.g. that there's a 1 in 6 chance of rolling a 6.

I'm pretty sure that's regulated in most places. That online casinos and casino-like games rampantly cheat is another matter, I do expect that but I also think the people making those things are the scum of the earth.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#86

Post by alibarber »

xcdzvyn wrote: post #76
hristov wrote: post #37

This is pretty screwed up, because it kind of trains your brain to be a gambling brain. To crave the instant gratification, the high of risk taking etc. I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. This will at least prevent children from having their brains rewired. Of course this w…

> I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. IMHO this shouldn't [have to] be any of Apple or Google's business. It's a parent's responsibility to parent their child, not some conglomerate's.

The fact that I'm in my 30s and still have to sometimes show ID to buy booze points to the fact that society doesn't really agree.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#87

Post by Semaphor »

efitz wrote: post #43
ehnto wrote: post #32

It has been fascinating and demoralizing to watch monetization roll out. To younger generations like my brother, they don't know any different, it's just part if gaming for them. But at least something like aesthetic loot crates are a sideshow to the actual game. Some games are good at keeping the separate and you can understand that it's just how they choose to fund the game. When the whole game is just a loot crate…

>something like aesthetic loot crates are a sideshow No, they are very much a part of the experience. The anticipation of the reward and the tension build while the opening animation plays is an addiction mechanism. This is why we wrap presents and why “blind bags” are so successful (and also why toddlers will watch “surprise egg” videos for hours).

> the tension build while the opening animation plays is an addiction mechanism

Is this why BG3 has this extremely annoying and unskippable dice-rolling animation (technically, the rolling of the dice is the only thing you can actually skip)? Because other people somehow enjoy this?

It’s so bad, that the dice thing popping up induces a feeling of dread and annoyance in me.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#88

Post by meheleventyone »

hristov wrote: post #37

This is pretty screwed up, because it kind of trains your brain to be a gambling brain. To crave the instant gratification, the high of risk taking etc. I think the time has come when android and ios should make a special versions of their online shops for children and teenagers and simply ban those types of games from those shops. This will at least prevent children from having their brains rewired. Of course this w…

One thing to be thankful for is the Apple privacy changes have absolutely wrecked their business model that essentially requires targeted UA spends to go “whale hunting”. It’s really interesting to hear the reaction on mobile oriented dev podcasts like Deconstructor of Fun even though I have little sympathy with these predatory business models.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#89

Post by dpig_ »

freeone3000 wrote: post #14
Yhippa wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember having an iPhone 5 and the quality of games were pretty good, albeit pricey. I did pay for a bunch of games at the time because I thought that was fair. Coming back to iOS a decade later and the quality of games is unrecognizable from the era I started in. Even Apple Arcade has a lot of stuff that feels like f2p/p2w stuff that is basically mobile casinos. I tried to give a bunch of modern games a shot and…

Looking over the best games for Apple Arcade and it’s… Temple Run, Cut the Rope, Fruit Ninja. Really! That was the peak?

I started playing Hitman GO again on mobile. Really enjoying that.

Re: The casino in your pocket

#90

Post by dpig_ »

kortilla wrote: post #74
lmm wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's just the opposite. Kids who've grown up with this crap will be wise to the tricks. Those who don't get exposed until adulthood have no resistance. Just like how the younger generation is pretty good at using social media responsibly and prioritizing stronger relationships, whereas the older generation get hooked and spend their whole lives yelling in newspaper comment sections.

Huh? The younger generation lives with their phones attached to their face. They don’t prioritize actual relationships.

That might be your perception.
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